Brush for assisting in separation of sheets

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a method and device for facilitating the separation from a plurality of edge-aligned parallel cards, such as edge-notched cards, those cards which are to be removed therefrom. To facilitate separation of cards from a group from which they are removable, a cylindrical brush is rotated in contact with aligned edges of a plurality of cards which support one another in substantially vertical orientation. A suitable brush comprises an arbor having at least one cylindrical segment which includes one or more brush elements. A card separating device includes means to move from a plurality of edge-aligned cards certain &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;selected&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; cards from the remaining, &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;rejected, &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; cards thus effecting a separation of selected cards. The brush according to the present invention facilitates this separating motion. The brush bristles contact all of the edge-aligned cards and are sufficiently resilient to deflect on contacting a stationary card and sufficiently stiff to enter into the space between adjacent cards to facilitate card separation.

United States Patent 1 Lanahan et al.

[ 1 Feb. 27, 1973 BRUSH FOR ASSISTING IN SEPARATION OF SHEETS [73]Assignee: Mohawk Industrial Inc., Vernon, N.Y.

22 Filed: Nov. 17, 1970 211 Appl. No.: 90,356

Related U.S. Application Data [63] Continuation-impart of Ser. No.811,826, April 1,

1969, Pat. No. 3,586,166.

Laboratories,

[52] U.S. Cl ..209/80.5, 209/74 [51] Int. Cl. ..B07c [58] Field ofSearch ..209/80.5, 110.5, 74; 271/89,

Primary Examiner-Allen N. Knowles Att0rneyl.arson, Taylor and Hinds 57ABSTRACT The invention relates to a method and device for facilitatingthe separation from a plurality of edgealigned parallel cards, such asedge-notched cards, those cards which are to be removed therefrom. Tofacilitate separation of cards from a group from which they areremovable, a cylindrical brush is rotated in contact with aligned edgesof a plurality of cards which support one another in substantiallyvertical orientation. A suitable brush comprises an arbor having atleast one cylindrical segment which includes one or more brush elements.A card separating device includes means to move from a plurality ofedgealigned cards certain selected cards from the remaining, rejected,cards thus effecting a separation of selected cards. The brush accordingto the present invention facilitates this separating motion. The brushbristles contact all of the edge-aligned cards and are sufficientlyresilient to deflect on contacting a stationary card and sufficientlystiff to enter into the space between adjacent cards to facilitate cardseparation.

10 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTED 3,718,255

11 l l I Q l L-J. I I I /ISEGMENTi SEGMENTi SEGMENTi F/G. 2 r mvsmo nsqoHu H.. LANAHAN WILLIAM w. ABRAHAM ATTORNEYS BRUSH FOR ASSISTING INSEPARATION OF SHEETS This invention is a continuation-in-part of ourearlier application Ser. No. 811,826, filed Apr. 1, 1969, now US. Pat.No. 3,586,166, issued June 22,1971.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a method anddevice for facilitating the separation from a plurality of edgealigned,vertically oriented cards, such as edge-notched cards, those cards whichare to be removed therefrom. In another aspect, the invention relates tocard sorting and in particular, it relates to the sorting of verticallyoriented, edge-aligned, edge-notched cards.

Numerous arrangements of this type are presently known for sortingedge-notched cards. These range from simple mechanical elongated roddevices to complex automatic machines. A typical and preferred device ofthis type is disclosed in our earlier pending application Ser. No.811,826, herein incorporated by reference. In these machines, aplurality of edgenotched cards are stored in edge alignment and withadjacent cards supporting one another in vertical orientation. Themachine is utilized to select certain cards determined by the particularlocation of a notch or notches along a notched edge. Due toelectrostatic and frictional forces between the adjacent cards, themachines usually include a device to facilitate separation of theselected cards from the plurality of cards in the machine. Known devicesinclude air streams, vibrators and the like. In any device of this type,the separation of the cards is critical. For example, if the cards arenot completely separated, only some of the data which is sought will beobtained. Thus, it is critical in machines of this type that the cardsdesired to be separated are easily separated from the bulkof the cardsin the machine. It is therefore an object of the present invention toprovide a method and device for facilitating the separation from aplurality of parallel, edge-aligned, vertically oriented cards, thosecards which are to be removed therefrom.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The foregoing and other objects are achievedaccording to the present invention by providing in a device forseparating selected cards from a plurality of edge-aligned, verticallyoriented, cards including at least one storage bay for holding aplurality of edgealigned cards with adjacent cards supporting oneanother in vertical orientation, means for moving certain selected cardsrelative to the remaining, rejected, cards to effect separation thereof:the improvement wherein said device includes brush means to facilitateseparation of said sheets, said brush means comprising a brush memberpositioned adjacent to the aligned edges of said sheets with thebristles of said brush member being engageable with the aligned edges ofthe cards in said bay, and means to move the brush bristles inengagement with said aligned edges to facilitate sheet separation, saidbristles being sufficiently flexible to deflect upon striking said cardedges and sufficiently stiff to enter into the space between adjacentcards to pass between adjacent cards to facilitate separation thereof.Separation of the cards is facilitated according to the invention bycontacting the edges of edgealigned cards having adjacent cardssupporting one another in vertical orientation with a moving brush, saidbrush including bristles which are sufficiently flexible to deflect uponstriking said edges and sufficiently stiff to pass into the spacebetween adjacent sheets to pass between adjacent cards to facilitateseparation thereof.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT There follows adetailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention,together with accompanying drawings. However, it is to be understoodthat the detailed description and accompanying drawings are providedsolely for the purpose of illustrating a preferred embodiment and thatthe invention is capable of numerous modifications and variationsapparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spiritand scope of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic elevation view of a portion of a card sortingdevice employing a rotating brush device according to the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a portion of a cylindrical surface of abrush according to the invention;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a portion of a cylindrical surface of a brushaccording to the invention;

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic elevation view of a brush device according tothe present invention; and

FIG. 5 is a series of curves showing rise motion as a function of timefor various brush arrangements.

With reference to FIG. 1, a card sorting device 1 comprises a housing 2and a plurality of edge-aligned parallel cards 3. The device illustratedcorresponds to that shown in our earlier US. Pat. application Ser. No.811,826 and includes means to select cards and to remove those selectedcards from the machine. Full details with respect to construction andoperation of the card sorting machine will be found in that applicationwhich is incorporated herein by reference. Two brush devices, 4 and 5,according to the present invention are provided in the card sortingdevice and will be described in detail hereinafter. These brushes eachcomprise an arbor rotated by means of a motor 6 by means of an idlerpulley 7 and drive belts 8, 9 and 10.

Each brush arbor is cylindrical and the surface and arrangement of thebrush bristles are shown in FIG. 2. The brush arbor surface comprises atleast one segment, each of which conveniently corresponds to a cardholding bay in the device, three being shown in FIG. 3. Each segmentcomprises a plurality of brush elements 10 circumferentially spaced adistance X from one another. The distance X is conveniently expressed indegrees and the brush elements are preferably equally spaced around thesegment, six equally circumferentially spaced brush elements being shownin FIG. 2. While the number of circumferentially spaced brush elementsin a segment can vary widely, there are preferably at least three. Asmentioned, a brush may comprise more than one segment, and, in thatevent, the segments may comprise physically separate zones or areas on acontinuous cylindrical brush surface having brush elements around thesurface thereof. In either event, each segment according to theinvention may include a plurality of brush elements circumferentiallyspaced about the cylindrical surface thereof.

Each brush element comprises a plurality of conventional bristles,either natural or synthetic, which may be secured to the brush arbor inany conventional manner, such as by an adhesive backing. The bristlesextend outwardly, preferably radially, of the cylindrical brush arbor.

The bristles are selected to be sufficiently flexible to deflect uponstriking the aligned edges of the cards and sufficiently stiff to passinto thespace between adjacent cards and to pass between adjacent cardsto facilitate separation thereofThe required flexibility and stiffnessdepend, of course, on the spacing and thickness of the cards. However,the spacing and size of the cards is conventional. The cards are looselycompacted in vertical alignment in such a manner that adjacent cardssupport one another in vertical alignment. The cards are looselycompacted such that cards can move relative to one another withoutexcessive friction. The cards themselves are conventional and areusually of the order of from 5 to I mils in thickness. Preferably, thecards are of the order of to mils in thickness to conserve space, andthe most widely used cards are approximately 7 mils in thickness.

In order to minimize inter card frictional forces which impede cardseparation, the cards are provided in vertical orientation prior tomovement of the selected cards relative to the remaining, rejectedcards. The cards are usually provided vertically in a bay defined byside walls which may be adjustable to vary the bay width to accomodate alarger or smaller number of cards in a bay. The side walls may beresiliently urged against the cards an amount sufficient to hold thecards loosely compacted in vertical orientation. More preferably,however, the side walls are in fixed position during card selection, thenumber of cards between the bay being such that the cards are onlyloosely compacted. In either event, adjacent cards support one anotherin vertical orientation and the cards are loosely compacted such thatthe cards occupy from about 50 to 85 percent, more preferably 70 to 80percent, of the space between adjacent side walls, the remainder beingfree space. The bristles preferably have a diameter larger than the cardthickness.

The bristles can be disposed on the brush element in several ways. Ingeneral, it is preferred to arrange the bristles into a plurality ofseparate elements on the brush so that a vibrating action, as well as abrushing action, will be imparted to the cards on motion of the brushadjacent to the aligned card edges. The brush is moved such that theindividual bristles move in a plane substantially parallel to the cards.This is conveniently achieved by providing a rotatable brush arborextending transverse to the aligned card edges with brush bristlesextending radially outward to contact the cards on rotation of the brusharbor.

The bristles are preferably arranged on the brush in such a manner thatat any given moment when the brush is moving with its bristles incontact with the aligned card edges, not all of the card edges arecontacted. Thus, the bristles are preferably provided in a spiralpattern on a cylindrical brush arbor. The spiral pattern may becontinuous, as shown in FIG. 3, or discontinuous as shown in FIG. 2. Byproviding the bristles in this winding manner, motion of the brushcauses a riffling action which has been found to be very effective inseparating the cards. Where the brush elements are discontinuous, forexample, when they are circumferentially spaced about the periphery of acylindrical brush arbor as shown in FIG. 2, a vibrating action issuperimposed on the riffling action and the combined riffling-vibratingaction has been found to be remarkably efficient in separating cards. Apreferred form of brush will now be described in connection with FIGS.2, 4 and 5.

The brush arbor 12 is cylindrical (FIG. 4) and conveniently includes oneor more segments, three being illustrated in FIG. 2, each segmentconveniently corresponding to a bay in the card storage device. Thus, inthis example, three bays defined by side walls are located in registerwith the three brush segments, the

bristles in one segment contacting the aligned edges of I the cards inthe bay in registry therewith upon rotation of the brush arbor.

The brush elements 11 extend longitudinally of the segment preferably adistance Y less than the full length of the segment. In that event, eachbrush element overlaps an adjacent brush in that segment a distance Z.The brushes are conveniently staggered longitudinally of the arbor in aregular pattern, such as a helix, around the segment. Furthermore, thebrush elements in a segment, taken together, at least extend fully fromone side of the segment to the other. For example, as shown in FIG. 2,the brush elements are staggered with overlap such that four of thebrushes taken together, extend from one side of the segment to theother.

Where the brush comprises a plurality of segments, it is preferred thatthe brushes of each segment are in circumferential alignment with all ofthe brush elements of each other segment as shown in FIG. 3. Thus, wheresix brush elements are provided in each segment equally spaced atintervals about the periphery thereof, each brush of a segment isaligned longitudinally of the brush axis with a brush element of allother segments. As shown in FIG. 3, each brush in longitudinal alignmentmay also occupy a corresponding longitudinal position in its segment,but this is not necessary.

Upon rotation of the brush arbor, each bay segment rotates to contactthe edge-aligned sheets to facilitate separation thereof. It istherefore preferred that the brush elements of a given segment arestaggered to form a serpentine or iig-zag pattern extending across thesegment at least once in each direction longitudinally of the brush asshown in FIG. 2.

Operation of the brush device will be explained with reference to FIG.-4. In this drawing, the brush arbor 12 is shown rotatingcounterclockwise as shown by arrow 23 in brushing engagement with thealigned edges of a plurality of cards 13, two cards R and 8 being shown.Originally, the top edges of all of the cards are aligned with edge 14of Card R. Due to the action of selector bars 15 and 16, which cooperatewith notches l7 and 18 in the bottom of card S, that card, hereinaftercalled the selected card, is free to move downwardly with respect tocard R, hereinafter called the rejected card. While the rejected cardalso includes notches l9 and 20 in bottom edge 21 thereof, selector bars15 and 16 engage lower edge 21 of the rejected card and thus hold therejected card in its original position. The edge notches thus constitutea means of selecting certain cards, such as cards containing certaininformation, corresponding to a code identified by the number and/orposition of notches in an edge thereof such as notches l5 and 16. Theuse of edge notches for this purpose is widely known and reference ismade to our copending application Ser. No. 811,826 for details oftypical systems. In any event, a card sorting device includes means forstoring a plurality of sheets parallel and in edge alignment. Usuallythe sheets are generally rectilinear and all four edges of the sheetsare in alignment. The device also includes means to permit relativemotion between selected and rejected cards to separate selected cardsfrom the rejected cards. The present brush device operates as shown inFIGS. 1 and 4 to facilitate separation of the selected and rejectedcards.

The cylindrical arbor of a brush device according to the presentinvention is located parallel with the aligned edges of a plurality ofparallel and edge-aligned cards with its longitudinal axis generallytransverse to a given edge of each individual card. The arbor is rotatedabout axle 22 in the direction of arrow 23 by a drive means, not shownin FIG. 4, which may comprise any conventional arrangement such as thatshown in FIG. 1. The brush arbor may be biased downwardly towards thecards by any suitable means. In the embodiment shown, the drum is biaseddownwardly by its own weight in track 24 which comprises a slot in asupport member 25 in which the axle is moveable. The brush arbor ismoveable upwardly during rotation as in slot 24 of support 25.

It will be understood that as brush arbor 12 rotates, thecircumferentially spaced brush elements of a given bay segment willintermittently contact the cards thus imparting a vibrating action. Eachtime a brush element strikes the cards, the bristles deflect and thereis a tendency for the brush arbor to rise. In this embodiment of theinvention, the mass of the bay segment is selected to be sufficient toensure contact between the cards and each successive brush element, andthe resiliency of the brush elements is preferably sufficient to imparta rise motion to the rotating brush segment upon contact between thebrush element and the edge-aligned cards. The brush resiliency ispreferably sufficient to overcome the kinetic energy of the rotatingarbor such that a rise motion is imparted to the bay segment atoperational speed. Thus, when an individual brush element contacts thecards, its resilience causes the brush arbor to rise in slot 24 thuscausing the brush segment to rise. When the bristles leave the card, thesegment falls downwardly until the next individual brush element strikesthe cards when it will rise again. This motion is termed rise motionherein and its extent is termed rise distance." Provided that the brushresilience substantially overcomes the momentum of the rotating brushsegment, rise motion will be imparted to the segment.

The brush elements of the segment are also preferably offsetlongitudinally of the segment and, upon rotation of the brush, ariffling action is imparted to the cards. This riffling action, coupledwith the vibrating effect caused by intermittent brush contact, providesexcellent card separation according to the invention, particularly wherethe circumferential distance separating adjacent brush elements is suchthat the time interval between intermittent contacts at operating speedis not greater than the time interval for a rise motion cycle.

Rise motion as a function of time for one revolution of a six brushelement bay segment is shown in FIG. 5 for three situations. In allthree situations, the resilience of the brush elements substantiallyovercomes the momentum of the brush segment thus imparting rise motion.In situation I, the spacing between successive brush elements in suchthat the time interval between successive brush contacts is the same asthe time for rise motion. The curve shows the vertical motion of thebrush axle during one revolution. The axle is pushed rapidly upwards arise distance d, and then falls by gravity a time equal to V 2d/386. Inthe second situation, the brush spacing is greater such that rise motiona distance d is completely finished before the next brush contacts thecards. In the last situation, the spacing is such that the contactoccurs prior to completion of a cycle of rise motion. The rise motion d,in this instance is less than d,, other things being equal. It has.

been found that arrangements I and III achieve excellent card separationaccording to the invention.

Brush elements were tested in a device described in detail in ourearlier application.

A first brush device is constructed as shown in FIG. 2. Each segmentcontained 6 brush elements as shown, each brush element being aboutone-fourth of the width of the segment and having straight nylonbristles 10 mils in diameter. The thickness was chosen such that if eachof the bristles occupied the space between a card, the cards wouldoccupy the whole bay width of the machine corresponding to the width ofthe seg ment. A brush device operating in this manner having acircumferential brush element spacing as described in connection withschemes I and III of FIG. 5 achieves excellent card separation in aboutI second. With the same brush elements arranged according to scheme llof FIG. 5, effecting separation requires 4 seconds.

In another test, the brush elements of a segment were joined forming acontinuous, herring bone pattern as shown in FIG. 3. Four continuousbristle elements, each being helically wound on a cylindrical arbor, twobeing wound in one sense and the other two being wound in the oppositesense, the pitch being equal to bay width as shown. The brush thuscontinuously contacts the cards and no rise motion was imparted. Thetime needed to effect comparable card separation is about 4 seconds.Thus, by circumferentially spacing the brush elements in accordance withthe invention, card separating is greatly facilitated relative tocontinuous brushes or spaced brushes having other spacing arrangements.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the brush is biased againstthe cards by its own weight. It will be understood however, that anyresilient means for biasing the brush, such as a spring may be used.Thus, a spring can be utilized to bias the brush against side edges oreven bottom edges, of the cards. In addition, a spring or the likebiasing means may be utilized in a device according to the invention tolessen the effective mass of a brush by acting in a direction away fromthe cards. Thus, where the mass or momentum of the brush is referred toherein, it will be understood that it is the net mass, or net kineticenergy which is intended, taking into account the manner in which thebrush is mounted, including biasing means.

The brush device is conveniently provided with means to hold the brushout of engagement with the cards when the brush is not in operation.

In a card sorting device as shown in our earlier application Ser. No.811,826, the cards are conveniently stored in a plurality of separatebays. The brush device is thus conveniently provided with a like numberof bay segments, each corresponding to a card bay. As mentioned above,the bay segments may be physically separated or may be merely areas on acontinuous brush surface. In any event, the brush may comprise a singlebay segment or a plurality thereof and, where a plurality of physicallyseparated bay segments are provided, the rise motion of each may beindependent of all others in which case longitudinal alignment ofbrushes in the elements is not important. Where the of an element extenddownwardly between the adjacent cards, the cards would not jamb in thedevice. This will depend, of course, on the number of cards in thedevice. However, considering a given bay segment, the free space betweenedge-aligned parallel cards arranged as shown in the drawings willgenerally be about 50 to' 85 percent, preferably 70 to 80 percent, ofthe bay width. Thus, the brush elements are such that the number ofbristles in 'contact with the cards at any given time, is preferably notgreater than about 50 to 85 percent, preferably 70 to 80 percent, of thebay width. The thickness of an element, that is the circumferentialdistance between the leading and trailing edge of the brush element, canvary widely. However, the total thickness of all of the brushes ispreferably less than one half of the circumference of the brush surfacein order to provide effective vibrating action.

What is claimed is:

1. In a method of separating selected cards from a plurality ofedge-aligned, vertically oriented cards wherein selected cards are movedrelative to the remaining, rejected, sheets to effect separation, theimprovement which comprises facilitating said separation by contactingtheedges of edge-aligned cards having adjacent cards supporting oneanother in vertical orientation with a moving brush, said brushincluding bristles which are sufficiently flexible to deflect uponstriking said edges and sufficiently stiff to pass into the spacebetween adjacent sheets to pass between adjacent cards to facilitateseparation thereof, said brush being moved such that the bristles movelengthwise of said cards.

2. An improved card separating device according to claim 1 wherein saidbrush comprises an arbor member defining at least one rotatable segment,at least one brush element located in each segment, and each brushelement comprising a plurality of bristles extending outward of saidsegment.

3. An improved card separating device according to claim 2 wherein saidbrush element extends circum ferentially about said segment.

4. An improved card separating device according to claim 3 wherein saidbrush element extends spirally about the entire circumference of saidsegment.

5. An improved card separating device according to claim 2 wherein saidbrush element extends longitudinally of said segment.

6. An improved card separating device according to claim 5 wherein saidsegment includes a plurality of circumferentiallyspaced brush elements.

7. An improved card separating device according to claim 6 wherein eachbrush element extends less than the full longitudinal length of the baysegment and each brush .element is partially displaced longitudinally ofthe bay segment with respect to each adjacent brush element withlongitudinal overlap between adjacent brush elements.

8. An improved card separating device according to claim 6 wherein saidarbor comprises a plurality of said segments and wherein each segmentcomprises at least three brush elements equally spaced about thecircumference thereof, each brush element of a segment being inlongitudinal alignment with a brush element of all other segments.

9. An improved card separating device according to claim 6 wherein saidarbor is moveably supported for motion relative to said aligned edges topermit rise motion of the arbor occassioned by intermittent contactbetween the edges and the brush elements, the circumferential distanceseparating adjacent brush elements being such that the time intervalbetween successive intermittent contacts between brush elements and saidaligned edges upon rotation of said bay segment at operating speed isnot greater than the time interval required for rise motion of thearbor.

10. In a device for separating selected cards from a plurality ofedge-aligned, vertically oriented, cards including at least one storagebay for holding a plurality of edge-aligned cards with adjacent cardssupporting one another in vertical orientation, means for moving certainselected cards relative to the remaining, rejected cards to effectseparation thereof: the improvement wherein said device includes brushmeans to facilitate separation of said cards, said brush meanscomprising a base member having bristles extending outwardly therefrom,said base member being positioned adjacent to aligned edges of saidcards with the bristles of said brush member being engageable with thealigned edges of the cards in said bay, and means connected to said basemember for moving the brush bristles in engagement with said alignededges to facilitate card separation, said bristles being sufficientlyflexible to deflect upon striking said card edges and sufficiently stiffto enter into the space between adjacent cards to pass between adjacentcards to facilitate separation thereof.

2. An improved card separating device according to claim 1 wherein saidbrush comprises an arbor member defining at least one rotatable segment,at least one brush element located in each segment, and each brushelement comprising a plurality of bristles extending outward of saidsegment.
 3. An improved card separating device according to claim 2wherein said brush element extends circumferentially about said segment.4. An improved card separating device according to claim 3 wherein saidbrush element extends spirally about the entire circumference of saidsegment.
 5. An improved card separating device according to claim 2wherein said brush element extends longitudinally of said segment.
 6. Animproved card separating device according to claim 5 wherein saidsegment includes a plurality of circumferentially spaced brush elements.7. An improved card separating device according to claim 6 wherein eachbrush element extends less than the full longitudinal length of the baysegment and each brush element is partially displaced longitudinally ofthe bay segment with respect to each adjacent brush element withlongitudinal overlap between adjacent brush elements.
 8. An improvedcard separating device according to claim 6 wherein said arbor comprisesa plurality of said segments and wherein each segment comprises at leastthree brush elements equally spaced about the circumference thereof,each brush element of a segment being in longitudinal alignment with abrush element of all other segments.
 9. An improved card separatingdevice according to claim 6 wherein said arbor is moveably supported formotion relative to said aligned edges to permit rise motion of the arboroccassioned by intermittent contact between the edges and the brushelements, the circumferential distance separating adjacent brushelements being such that the time interval between successiveintermittent contacts between brush elements and said aligned edges uponrotation of said bay segment at operating speed is not greater than thetime interval required for rise motion of the arbor.
 10. In a device forseparating selected cards from a plurality of edge-aligned, verticallyoriented, cards including at least one storage bay for holding aplurality of edge-aligned cards with adjacent cards supporting oneanother in vertical orientation, means for moving certain selected cardsrelative to the remaining, rejected cards to effect separation thereof:the improvement wherein said device includes brush means to facilitateseparation of said cards, said brush means comprising a base memberhaving bristles extending outwardly therefrom, said base member beingpositioned adjacent to aligned edges of said cards with the bristles ofsaid brush member being engageable with the aligned edges of the cardsin said bay, and means connected to said base member for moving thebrush bristles in engagement with said aligned edges to Facilitate cardseparation, said bristles being sufficiently flexible to deflect uponstriking said card edges and sufficiently stiff to enter into the spacebetween adjacent cards to pass between adjacent cards to facilitateseparation thereof.